Student housing developer nabs CUNY office building on UES

Corigin Real Estate Group has purchased a seven-story Upper East Side office building formerly inhabited by the City University of New York for $61.75 million, the Observer reported. The property is located at 535 East 80th Street between York and East End avenues.

Corigin, which has built or renovated at least five student housing facilities in New York, purchased the building from the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. CUNY has occupied the 70,502-square-foot office building since 1958, the Observer said.

“It was not designed as an office building. It served the purpose over the years, but we’re excited about the opportunity to be more centrally located,” Michael Arena, a CUNY spokesman, was quoted as saying. He added that the sale will allow the school to find less expensive space elsewhere and frees up an additional $31 million to go toward a new CUNY research center in Harlem.

Four of the company’s dormitories in the city are located at 201 East 14th Street, 400 Broome Street, 321 Bowery Street and 636 Greenwich Street. [NYO]–Hayley Kaplan